30 The QUEE NS Courier • JUly 10, 2014 for breaking news visit www.queenscourier.com editorial SAVING AN ICON Kudos to one and all for coming up with nearly $6 million toward the restoration of the New York State Pavilion in Flushing Meadows Corona Park. This iconic structure will cost an estimated $43 million to return to its original glory, but the money earmarked by Mayor Bill de Blasio, Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, the City Council and Borough President Melinda Katz is an impressive start. We are deeply grateful to them for their efforts to save this Queens landmark and national treasure. Well done all. WORKING CLOSER TO HOME We were intrigued by a report from City Comptroller Scott Stringer that showed a drop in the number of office workers commuting from Queens to Manhattan. That has to be a relief to many, especially as the threat of a Long Island Railroad strike hangs like the Sword of Damocles over the heads of many commuters. The best part, though, is that one may infer many Queens residents also work within the borough, which means a strong business climate where good jobs are available. FDNY SORROW We were saddened by the death of FDNY Lt. Gordon Matthew Ambelas in a fiery deathtrap Saturday in Brooklyn, a thoroughly unnecessary tragedy that reverberates throughout the city. The fire was caused letters A better, safer Woodhaven Boulevard Recently I attended the Woodhaven Bus Riders Gathering hosted by the Riders Alliance where we talked about how to improve safety, bus service and congestion on Woodhaven and Cross Bay boulevards. There were a broad range of people from communities along Woodhaven Boulevard in attendance—bus riders, drivers, business owners, bikers and, of course, pedestrians. Everybody uses the street in different ways, but the one thing we could all agree on is that Woodhaven Boulevard is unsafe and congested and something needs to change. As a bus rider myself from Woodhaven, I know too well the plight of bus riders. Due to traffic, it takes more than an hour to get to Queens College where I go to school, and even longer to get to Far Rockaway, where I used to work. If I miss the bus, I’m often stranded alone—which can be really dangerous in the evening especially as a young woman. And because the buses are unreliable and overcrowded, I have to leave a half hour earlier so that I don’t miss my bus, just adding more time to my already long commute. For a lot of us, buses are our only option. We need a comprehensive solution that protects everyone. As bus riders and community members, we deserve better! Emily December Bus rider from Woodhaven, Queens More arts education needed When we study great past civilizations, what do we revere about their cultures? Not their military conquests. Their glamor quickly is reduced to dry footnotes and maybe a movie script. It’s through the arts: music, painting, sculpture, dance, architecture and crafts that we achieve the nearest thing to immortality. So why are so many public schools bereft of art instructors? Why has attention to the arts largely withered away in recent years? Are the arts frivolous and shallow? Just the opposite. Let’s just say they didn’t fit in with the emphasis established by the former chancellors Klein, Black (don’t forget the middle fare in the sandwich) and Walcott. They had other educational “priorities” often adrift of education itself. Chancellor Fariña has recently increased the funding for more arts facilities and materials by a couple dozen million dollars. That’s still a paltry sum but it’s a windfall after the dry spell of neglect. The arts are an indispensable part of the “major subject” of civilization itself. Ron Isaac Fresh Meadows FDNY Lt. Ambelas, RIP Our Bravest has lost another heroic soul who died trying to save others in a Williamsburg fire. Lt. Gordon Mathew Ambelas of ladder Co. 119 is reported to be such an individual who went above and beyond to save those in danger. It is said that he exemplified bravery when he came to work and of that I have no doubt. In my humble opinion I believe it takes a certain kind of man or woman to be a firefighter and that is to run into a burning building and try their best to put out that fire and at the same time to risk their own lives to save others. I commend all of our Bravest for the job that they do. My heartfelt prayers go out to the family, friends and fellow firefighters who are grieving for Lt. Gordon Mathew Ambelas who truly loved what he did and was dedicated to the FDNY. He will truly be missed. Frederick R. Bedell Jr. Glen Oaks BOE sacrifices voters’ rights for political correctness NYC’s Board of Elections cited a low voter turnout for the June primary and a declining participation rate over the last few years. There’s a good reason why. The BOE closed a number of polling sites because they were deemed inaccessible to handicapped voters under the Americans With Disabilities Act. Sending absentee ballots to disabled voters instead of closing polling sites for everyone makes more sense. Closing polling sites disenfranchises thousands of voters for the sake of a few. Kew Gardens Hills voters lost their chance to cast ballots at a conveniently located site when the BOE abandoned P.S. 164 over two years ago. Unless the BOE corrects this situation, its initials really stand for Barrel of Errors. Dick Reif Flushing IDENTIFY THIS PLACE Go to www.queenscourier.com and search “Identify This Place” to find out where this is by a pinched electrical cord, which then set ablaze piles of junk in the apartment. Adding to the tragic loss of life is the horror that it was all so preventable. Hoarding junk endangers not only rescue personnel, but the hoarders themselves (the Collyer brothers, the most famous hoarders of all, were killed by a junk booby trap designed to keep outsiders away from their junk). And crimped or frayed electrical cords cause many, many preventable fires. Those facts only add to our sorrow at the death of a brave and heroic firefighter. Our condolences to his family and his colleagues. MONEY WELL SPENT The Courier welcomes the allocation of $11.1 million in the city budget to restore the Vallone Scholarships. The program provides more than 13,000 students with merit-based tuition aid at CUNY schools — a brilliant program that was dismantled in a fit of pique by then-Council Speaker Christine Quinn. We are pleased to acknowledge the efforts of Councilman Paul Vallone who led the charge to bring back the program originally named for his father, former Speaker Peter F. Vallone. It now bears the unwieldy name of the City Council CUNY Merit Based Scholarship, but we all know who was behind the original program. Congratulations to Paul Vallone for leading the charge on restoration of funds and we thank all in the City Council for their wisdom in funding the program. THE QUEENS Victoria SchnepS-YuniS JoShua a. SchnepS BoB Brennan William J. Gorta amY amato-Sanchez nirmal SinGh Graziella zerilli Stephen reina ron torina, Jennifer Decio, cherYl GallaGher liam la Guerre, criStaBelle tumola anGY altamirano, Katrina meDoff, eric Jankiewicz cliff KaSDen, Samantha Sohmer, elizaBeth aloni criStaBelle tumola Demetra plaGaKiS louiSe caValiere celeSte alamin maria Valencia Daphne fortunate Victoria SchnepS-YuniS JoShua a. SchnepS Publisher & editor Co-Publisher AssoCiAte Publisher editor-in-Chief VP, eVents, Web & soCiAl MediA Art direCtor AssistAnt to Publisher AssistAnt Art direCtor Artists stAff rePorters Contributing rePorters Web editor eVents MAnAger senior ACCount exeCutiVe ClAssified MAnAger Controller offiCe MAnAger President & Ceo ViCe President Schneps Communications, 38-15 Bell Blvd., Bayside, NY 11361 718-224-5863 • Fax 718-224-5441 website: www.queenscourier.com e-mail:[email protected] [email protected] [email protected] Entire Contents Copyright 2014 by The Queens Courier All letters sent to THE QUEENS COURIER should be brief and are subject to condensing. Writers should include a full address and home and office telephone numbers, where available, as well as affiliation, indicating special interest. Anonymous letters are not printed. Name withheld on request. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR, AS WELL AS OP-ED PIECES IN NO WAY REFLECT THE PAPER’S POSITION. 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